1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a female terminal used in the wiring in an automobile or the like. The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 11-130168, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in FIG. 2, a female terminal 20, used in the wiring in an automobile or the like, is adapted to be connected to a strip-like male terminal, and includes a body 21 of a square tubular shape for receiving the male terminal therein, a contact piece 22 received within the body 21, and clamping portions 23 and 24 connected to the body 21.
The body 21 has a pair of opposed walls 25 and 25 through which windows 26 and 26 are formed, respectively (see FIG. 2C).
The contact piece 22 has a generally curved strip-shape, and a pair of projections 27 and 27 are formed on and extend respectively from opposite side (lateral) edges of the contact piece 22 away from each other. The two projections 27 and 27 of the contact piece 22 are engaged respectively in the windows 26 and 26, with a convexly-arcuate surface 28 facing an inner surface 29 of the body 21, so that opposite end portions of the contact piece 22, spaced from each other in a direction of curvature thereof, are held in contact with an inner surface 30 of the body 21.
When the male terminal is inserted between the inner surface 29 of the body 21 and the arcuate surface 28 of the contact piece 22, the female terminal 20 holds the male terminal in a direction of a thickness of the male terminal, and therefore is connected to the male terminal.
In the female terminal 20, the contact piece 22 needs to be mounted within the body 21, and therefore an inner dimension of the windows 26 is larger than an outer dimension of the projections 27.
Namely, in the female terminal 20, the contact piece 22 can shake relative to the body 21 in the direction of insertion of the male terminal, and therefore there has been encountered a problem that the reliability of connection to the male terminal is low.